Apparently there’s a new undercurrent of rumors about Brian Burke either leaving or being fired from his post as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager. (Honestly, I’ve been more focused on the 2012 Stanley Cup finals and things grounded in at least a bit more factual information.) Well, Bob McKenzie is on hand to more-or-less shoot down those rumblings, although he does point to one potential caveat: the Maple Leafs’ ownership changes could eventually bring an alteration down the line. Maybe.

It’s probably reasonable to assume that the 2012-13 season is a make or break one for Burke – assuming he gets that far, as McKenzie seems to suggest.

I’ve crossed paths with Brian Burke before: as a season ticket holder in Colorado in 1996, when he suspended Claude Lemieux for his hit on Kris Draper; again as a season ticket holder in Vancouver, when he first took the job; and as a reporter when Todd Bertuzzi almost killed Colorado’s Steve Moore by attacking him from behind, and pummeling him on the ice after he’d passed out, breaking Moore’s neck and ending his career.

Each time I’ve encountered Brian Burke, we’ve both come out grumbling. Maybe we clash because, incredibly, we were born on the exact same day, only 90 miles apart, in the middle of a ridiculous heat wave that baked the east coast. I have to admit, we have some of the same personality traits, not necessarily traits other people appreciate. Result: I don’t like him, and he doesn’t like me.

But as a parent, my heart totally went out to the guy when he lost his son, and at this point, I’ll stand behind Brian Burke in whatever he does. I support his foundation, which honors Brandon, who quit hockey because he was gay http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4891883, and attempts to break down barriers for gays in hockey (did someone say “Mark Messier?”). I have the utmost respect for Brian for being able to even go on with his career after a shock like he had in February of 2010.

Whatever the Leafs decide, they’ll be around long after Brian Burke is gone, whether or not they ever win the Stanley Cup again, so I hope they give him a freakin’ break. He damn well deserves one.

govtminion - Jun 6, 2012 at 10:10 AM

While I would never stoop to saying that what he’s gone through in his personal life doesn’t matter at all, I also would have to say that his performance as a general manager is what the Leafs are looking at- and even the most diehard Toronto fan would have to say that the results aren’t exactly what they’d hoped for so far. Nice guy or not, the Leafs are still missing the playoffs- that’s the bottom line.

His son has nothing to do with his job- he’ll keep it or lose it based on how he does in the office.